Colors and You
by razoredheart666
Summary: Orihime's thoughts about her captor, and the color green. Later, Ulquiorra is made to do something by Aizen that he doesn't quite like. Ulqihime :  Might continue on to a more mature rating if the story is continued...
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: I dont own Bleach, and would be happy to hear any reviews. Flames, even. This is my first post, and I hope to improve with each chapter.

**Orihime**

Cold green eyes watched her slightest movement, making sure she ate every last bit of the disgusting mush he had set before her. She had gagged and nearly emptied the pitiful contents of her stomach the first few times she had tried to eat it. However, everything had gotten easier as time had moved on in Hueco Mundo and now she could at least stomach most of the mush. Wasting food, in her captor's view, was not permissible. She had figured it out the hard way. Ulquiorra Cifer had to keep her alive, but did not have to be kind.

A childish thought entered her mind, and she wondered what his reaction would be if she stuck her tongue out at him. The realistic (and life-preserving) voice inside of her quickly reminded her that Ulquiorra would most likely cut her tongue off. Moreover, would most likely do so without even blinking. Her food suddenly became a bit harder to swallow, and she risked a glance at her captor. An odd thought came to her mind. He was beautiful. She quickly shook her head, trying to clear out that thought. She was Kurosaki's woman! Orihime was positive that she only loved Ichigo. Or perhaps, maybe she was not so sure anymore. She tried to swallow the last of the horrible mush, but gave up when it stuck in her throat. Drinking some of the stale water that accompanied the meal helped. Her thoughts wandered back to Ulquiorra. Beautiful in a tragic way, she decided. Like a petal falling off a dying rose, or the last ray of light before night came. Laughter bubbled in her throat and she quickly suppressed it. Thinking of Ulqiorra as a ray of light or a beautiful rose was completely wrong. She had to wonder where she came up with these comparisons sometimes. He was perhaps the most 'emo' person she had ever come across. Of course, that was his looks alone. Orihime was certain that even the most stereotypical emo showed more emotion than Ulquiorra.

It must have been those eyes that were making her think of things like the sun. They were green, no not just green, intense emerald green. To her, green represented life. It was the trees, the grass, spring…all things she missed in this desolate wasteland.

"Woman, what are you staring at? Finish your food. Now." his voice startled her out of her daze and she realized she had been staring into his eyes. She blushed deeply and hurriedly resumed trying to choke down her food.

Once she had finally finished and he had left, she sat down on her hard bed. Her brain was completely muddled. 'Work of the hobgoblins, surely' she muttered as she lay down. The last thought to cross her mind before sleep overcame her…What exactly is Ulquiorra to me?

**Ulquiorra**

She was so much color, so much everything, that she overwhelmed his thoughts and reason. Yellow, he decided, was her color. It vaguely annoyed and intrigued him, with its obnoxious brightness and cheeriness. He much preferred the colors of Hueco Mundo. Black, shades of gray, and endless halls of white.

He continued walking towards Aizen's main room to give him the daily report of the woman. He knocked lightly and was permitted entry.

"What is it, dear Ulquiorra?" Aizen said with a slight sneer on his face.

Ulquiorra blandly gave his report. "I have come to report the woman's condition. Her body is in seemingly good health, and her mental state is slowly breaking as planned. She will soon be completely in your control, Aizen-sama."

"Excellent, you may leave now." Ulquiorra was dismissed with a small flick of Aizen's hand. He briefly considered returning to his room to read, but decided that further analyzing the woman was more appealing.

Why did he find her so interesting, after all? It bothered him to know that anyone could even catch his interest. He found other beings to be boring, all the same. Like the grains of sand in outside the tower, all the same except the miniscule details you would find if you looked closely enough. And really, who could be bothered to look closely at so many grains of sand?

Ulquiorra assumed his fascination was with her and her emotions. He understood none of this sorrow, or happiness. His life was only blindly following rules, boredom, and the very rare spark of interest for something. He paused outside of her door, hand one inch away from knocking on it to alert her of his presence. Something in his mind had clicked on the issue he had been trying to solve for days. Why had he kept trying to understand her emotions, then trying to break her down? It wasn't only for Aizen-sama. Realization hit him.

He wanted her to be empty and cold, just like him.


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you everyone for the reviews, they really helped! :) I did try and make this chapter longer, but I failed...I will continue to try and write longer chapters though! Again, I do not own Bleach.

Chapter 2:

**Orihime**

Orihime was crying again, but she knew why this time. The endless hours and constant dark of Hueco Mundo had finally seeped into her soul and broken her, bit by bit. Warm, happy memories were fading. She was fading. Upon arrival at Hueco Mundo, Orihime no longer had the need to hold up the mask of cheeriness and positivity she wore before her friends and at school. It was too late when she realized she relied on that mask. The energy it took to hold up this mask of emotions distracted her from her real depression, doubt, and worry. She needed it again, but did not have the will to try anymore.

In the beginning of her arrival here, she had foolishly thought that if only she could befriend one being here, she could survive and might even find some happiness. However, the more Arrancars she had come across, the more she realized that they do not want to be friends. Most often, they would rather kill her. "Duh" commented her voice of reason again. Her shoulders visibly drooped, and her head fell into her hands.

The only one she had was Ulquiorra, and that was not even close to friendship. He was more of her unwilling protector. But, he was still her splash of color in her gray and dimming world. She held on to the small hope that Ulquiorra would see that she did not belong here, and save her from his world. She felt rather stupid, that instead of hoping for her orange haired knight in shining armor, she was hoping for the cold hands of death to free her.

Hearing a whizzing noise, she looked up. Surpisingly, her Shun Shun Rikka had decided to come out and talk to her. They rarely did this anymore, and she was shocked out of her recent crying fit.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?" Tsubaki yelled, pulling at a chunk of Orihime's long hair. "Your depression is making us weaker! How are we supposed to protect you if we are so weak we wouldn't be able to even deflect a small rock!" He screamed in frusteration.

"He is right…" A much quieter voice stated. Orihime looked up to see Shun'o staring intently at the ground. Gaining some strength into his voice, Shun'o continued, "We want you back to how you used to be!"

Orihime looked around and immediately felt guilty. Her depression had gone on too long, she had chosen this path and needed to stick to it. No more feeling sorry for herself, she thought, fist hitting her hand in emphasis. Her fairies looked at her warily. Forcing herself to brighten up, she apologized then laughed to her fairies, "I better stop now, or else I will become as depressing as Ulquiorra!" They laughed with her, and surrounded her in a hug.

For the first time since her arrival, Orihime slept peacefully. Her dreams, however, were suspiciously tinted with green…

**Ulquiorra**

Emerald eyes narrowed as he stood outside Orihime's door. He had long since abandoned trying to knock, and instead had opted to listen through the door to the woman's odd conversation with her Shun Shun Rikka. Apparently he needed to re-evaluate her mental strength. If none of the mental traps and attacks he had been using were working, he would need to talk to Aizen-sama again. It would be no good if the woman did not crumble beneath Aizen's power, they needed her to see how hopeless everything was so she would be completely obedient.

He briskly walked back to Aizen's main room, but was not permitted entry for a couple minutes. Upon entering, he was greeted with the strange sight of Grimmjow kneeling before Aizen's throne. As usual, Aizen's smirk was still in place. Grimmjow stood up and gave an irritated clicking noise before walking towards the door, glaring at Ulquiorra the whole way. "Trash," Ulquiorra muttered as Grimmjow passed. A lightning fast punch tried to hit Ulquiorra's head, but missed as Ulquiorra slightly leaned to dodge. Another punch was on its way, but a look from Aizen stopped it dead in its tracks. Grimmjow quickly thought better of the situation, and decided that hitting Aizen's favorite pet was not quite worth the punishment he would receive.

Once the blue haired Espada had left, Ulquiorra repeated the conversation he had overheard to Aizen. He was a little confused when Aizen chuckled at the comment about Ulquiorra being depressing, but decided to ignore it. After Aizen fully understood the situation, he pondered for a couple of minutes on how to solve it. Ulquiorra could almost swear Aizen's eyes lit up with laughter as he thought of his particularly cruel solution. "I have her obedience, but I need more," he began. " I need control of her most powerful emotion of all. Ulquiorra, you are the only one I can fully trust with this task. " Ulquiorra listened patiently, hands in his pockets.

" You must make Orihime Inoue fall in love with you."


	3. Chapter 3

Once again everybody, thank you so much for your reviews! They really do motivate me to write more. I still do not own Bleach…

Chapter 3:

**Ulquiorra**

Ulquiorra's eyes widened. Aizen chuckled darkly and motioned for Ulquiorra to exit the room. Dumbfounded, Ulquiorra mechanically obeyed.

His thoughts…no, he did not even have thoughts. All that was in his head was a massive whirlwind of confusion. He desperately tried to grasp on to something flying around inside his head, but the only thing he could seem to think about clearly was the word "love." What did it mean, and how was it so strong? To him, love seemed like such a foolish thing, something reserved for those who are trash and cannot control themselves. Yet somehow, he had to make that woman fall in love with him. His eyes narrowed at Aizen's plan. He obeyed the man, but somehow knew that he was as much of a subject for Aizen's own cruel entertainment as anyone else was.

Again, he tried to fathom how one would go about fulfilling a command like that. "You must make Orihime Inoue fall in love with you." He supposed the quickest way to rid himself of this request was to use human lust against her. Lust, Ulquiorra rationed, was close to what these humans called love, and seemed to be the way that many stayed 'in love'. It still seemed despicable to him, but being Aizen's servant he had to use his body for whatever purpose Aizen deemed necessary.

Slowly a plan began to formulate in his mind. Had he been human, he might have felt some disgust or shame over using someone else's emotions like this. However, he was a stoic Espada fulfilling his duty, so he felt nothing except particular interest in how to solve this problem. Once again he headed towards the Orihime's room.

**Aizen**

Dark laughter continued bubbling out of Aizen's throat. He could not help it; this was the best entertainment he had since he had decided to come to this desolate place. Conveniently, he had just finished ordering Grimmjow to install the cameras Szayel made into Orihime's room when Ulquiorra had enetered. Oh, he just loved ordering the rebellious Grimmjow to do things. It was only slightly lower on his list than ordering Ulquiorra to do things that confused him. Above both of those things, was of course making evil plans. Today he had gotten all three, and was in the best mood of his life. He almost felt like not killing the low arrancar that came in to tell him that the cameras were installed, but he was still not that kind. Watching the screen in front of him, he leaned his he4ad against his hand and waited for the entertainment to begin.

**Orihime**

Orihime sat patiently watching Grimmjow curse and hammer at the wall. She had asked him what he was doing, but he just growled at her that he was making repairs, then told her to shut up. He was certainly making an awful mess, she thought. After a while tried to ask if he needed help, but he had just yelled at her to shut up again, so she sat on the edge of her bed, idly having a thumb war with herself. Left was about to win when Grimmjow announced he was finished, and several low arrancars quickly cleaned up the mess. Grinning and bragging about what a great job he had done (Orihime was fairly certain that the wall would fall over soon), he made to leave just as the door opened.

There stood Ulquiorra, an odd look in his eyes. Not that most people could tell, it was just that out of survival instinct Orihime had quickly learned to recognize when Ulquiorra was in a particularly sour mood. Grimmjow must have felt something odd too because he left without so much as a word trying to provoke Ulquiorra into a fight.

Once the room was cleared with the door shut, Ulquiorra began walking towards Orihime slowly. At each step, she felt her pulse rise. By the time he was close, she was certain her heart sounded like a frightened, cornered rabbit's would. Inside her head, her Shun Shun Rikka tried to soothe her. It was her voice of reason, though, that truly helped. It calmly reminded her that Ulquiorra was her protector in this world and would most likely not harm her. Her lips stopped trembling, although she didn't even know when they had started. He was finally close to her, closer than he had ever been. He smelled like…she couldn't quite pin the smell, it was fresh and clean with a slight hint of spice to it. It was intoxicating, and she almost leaned closer before she quickly snapped out of it, fears making her stay frozen in place. He then leaned forward, and only stopped when he an inch away from her face. She held her breath. Feeling his warm breath on her face, she raised her wide gray eyes to lock with his beautiful green ones. There's that word again, she idly thought. Beautiful. Her mind blanked as he moved closer, but to the right side of her face. Soft hair brushed against her face as he whispered in her ear.

"Yellow." She shivered. "Your color is definitely yellow." With that, he sonidoed out of the room. Orihime fell back onto her bed, still shocked. What exactly had that been about?


	4. Chapter 4

Thank you LeftHRyder, and I agree it is kind of awkward to have him saying that, but hopefully this next chapter explains a little better :) I would have to say I had fun making this chapter a little less…well, depressing than the last few chapters. (And possibly it is a horrible attempt at humor, but I leave that to you to decide) Again, I don't own Bleach.

Chapter 4

**Ulquiorra**

If he was going to put it plainly, he had panicked. The feared quarto Espada had run after being an inch away from THAT woman's lips. Ulquiorra's mind had even blanked, and he cannot quite recall what he had said to her. The power of that woman was becoming something serious, and he was concerned (slightly) about continuing with this plan. He calmed himself and thought things through logically. No, she did not scare him, he reasoned. He was just completely out of his element. Knowing nothing of the "heart" or "love" he was at a huge disadvantage for this mission, he decided. It was unreasonable to presume he could force her to have such feelings in only a day.

As much as he hated to admit it, he needed help. Running through a list of the other Espada in his head, he tried to think of who might be the most helpful. Yammy would probably just recommend crushing her. That would not be in accordance with Aizen's plan, and therefore would be unhelpful. Grimmjow was out of the question; he refused to ask that Espada for anything. Harribel might be useful, but asking favors of superiors was often deadly. Additionally, he did not want to be forced to listen to her fraccion giggle histerically as he asked how to make a woman fall in love with him. Nnoitora's answer might possibly end up scarring the woman for life as opposed to helping with the plan, so he eliminated that possibility as well. His eyes narrowed fractionally at the conclusion he came to.

**Szayel**

Humming slightly, Szayel continued carving into the odd Shinigami specimen he had acquired. Too bad the Shinigami had died so quickly though. After taking off a couple of its limbs, Szayel had wanted to test the relationship between it and its sword. Oh well, he sighed; guess he would just have to get a new one.

Footsteps sounded behind him, and he quickly turned around to see the Espada he least expected. "Well, I am pleasantly surprised," he sung, almost dancing to get to closer to Ulquiorra, scapel still in hand. Ulquiorra just stared back at him, and Szayel stopped.

"I need your assistance." Ulquiorra stated. Szayel raised an eyebrow at him, a hundred questions in his head. He knew better than to ask any though. If the other Espada was talking, he expected others to listen. Oh how Szayel wanted to open up that head of his….perhaps the bone would make a nice wall decoration too…. "Do you have anything to make someone fall in love?"

Shock ran through Szayel, and he almost started laughing. Then he remembered that the other Espada would never joke, and therefore was being entirely serious, so he would have to try to be serious as well. "Unfortunately, I have no drugs powerful enough to deal with the emotion called love. I do, however, have several other enticing drugs," he smiled dangerously and skipped over to a cabinet marked "4". Szayel had been dying to try out several drugs on the 4th Espada, but had never gotten the chance. So, he ended up just leaving all of the drugs in a cabinet for the lucky day he might ever get to experiment on Ulquiorra.

Joy and laughter threatened to bubble out of his throat as he rummaged through the cabinet. He had things from all worlds here, and his eyes finally spotted something that amused him. Wondering what Ulquiorra's reaction would be, he held it out. "This one," he began," will increase your lust. Unfortunately, it only works on men, so you would have to use it." Ulquiorra eyed the bottle marked Viagra with disgust and never reached out to take it. Szayel made amused notes in his head about Ulquiorra's reaction to lust.

"I do not need anything to change how I am. I want something to change the woman's emotions," stated the monotone voice. Szayel's smile vanished because he thought the fun was gone. Humans were too easy to experiment on; one could change them entirely with a single pill. He grabbed a small bottle from a different drawer.

"Place two drops into Orihime's water, and this will increase any emotions she is feeling. So all you have to do is make her like you a little, then put it into the water and soon you will be a friend. Past that, it is your deal." Szayel said glumly. He itched to grab some of the bottles out of that 4 cabinet and shove them down Ulquiorra's throat, but he unfortunately valued his life.

Ulquiorra did not look as disgusted with this newer bottle, and reached out to grab it and examine it. Another plan came up in Szayel's head, and he spoke quickly as Ulquiorra began examining other contents of the room. "To truly understand how to make the woman love, you should first learn how emotions work. For this, I have the perfect medicine." (Szayel had decided calling it a drug would not be helpful-medicine sounded so much friendlier). Ulquiorra just looked at him, and he took it as his cue. Grinning madly, he snatched a purple bottle from the 4 cabinet and shoved it into Ulquiorra's hands. "Just take one a day," he smiled. Szayel probably would have lost his life by shoving something into Ulquiorra's hands on a regular day, but Ulquiorra was too interested in the medicine to notice. Ulquiorra sonidoed out of the lab, and Szayel grinned madly again before returning to his work.

"OH NO!" He gasped loudly. "A blood stain! Now I have to change my clothes!" Looking extremely put out, he began walking back to his room. On his way, he eyed the 4 cabinet again. Oh, he distractedly thought, I might have accidentally given him the stronger dose. Makes for a better experiment anyways, he laughed again, exiting the lab.


	5. Chapter 5

Hello again everyone, and thank you for the reviews :) Um, I do not know quite how to respond to the reviews…If you want to discuss things with me, feel free to pm me or something and I would be very happy to hear from you.

I still do not own Bleach :(

Chapter 5

**Ulquiorra**

Ulquiorra eyed the bottle suspiciously. He knew whatever Szayel had put in the bottle would not kill him, but he was still slightly wary of it. Reminding himself that he needed to take whatever measures necessary to fulfill the task Aizen had given him, he swallowed one of the pills. Then, he waited. Tensing, he continued waiting for the effects. After 20 minutes of waiting, still nothing had happened. Deciding that the pills were ineffective, or required more time, Ulquiorra gracefully lay down on his bed. When he got up several hours later, he still felt no different. Sighing in frustration, he sat up. Eyes widened as he realized he had just sighed…something he had never done. Shaking it off as only an odd occurrence he went to the tiny kitchen to prepare the woman's breakfast. While boiling the mush as usual, (for he trusted no other Arrancars to fulfill his duty), something else odd happened. He actually wondered what the woman would like to eat. He quickly rationalized the thought out in his head- no, he was not concerned, it would just make his duties easier if she ate her food without being threatened. After realizing it was not such a bad idea, he rummaged through the cabinets and found something called "red bean paste". All of this human food sounded disgusting to Ulquiorra. He placed the container on the tray anyways, and proceeded to Orihime's room. On the way, he unfortunately passed Grimmjow, who glared at him and clenched his fist. Normal Ulquiorra would have muttered "trash" and walked on. Drugged Ulquiorra, however, looked Grimmjow in the eyes and asked him a question.

**Grimmjow**

"What offence have I caused to your person for you to be this angry at the sight of me?"

Grimmjow just stared. It looked like Ulquiorra and had the same facial expression; it even had the same monotone voice. But, Ulquiorra would never even so much as say "hello", the best Grimmjow usually got was being called trash. What the fuck? What the hell was going on here? Grimmmow's veins biled- if he was still asleep and the annoying LIlinette bitch was bothering him again he was gonna punch her. Stupid little girl, always coming into his room to try and screw up his dreams. He decided punching something sounded like the best solution, and punched the wall near Ulquiorra's head. The other Espada did not even flinch. That made Grimmjow even angrier, and he would have punched Ulquiorra except the blood trickling down his fist and pain in his hand proved he was awake. Which means, hitting Ulquiorra might cost him his life. The odd Ulquiorra replacement raised an eyebrow at him. Wait. Raised an…eyebrow? Ulquiorra's facial expression could change? On top of that, his facial expression changed just because Grimmjow punched something (an hourly occurrence, by the way)?

Completely freaked out, Grimmjow decided to flee. While running down the hall, he heard another monotone sentence. "I see. We will discuss this later." Grimmjow upped his run to Sonido.

**Orihime**

…And then she would smash the school so she and Tatsuki could just go and eat squid ice cream all day. Caught up in her daydream, Orihime did not notice Ulquiorra enter. She continued with her smashing of the city as a giant robot, pew-pew-pew sounds included. The evil flying octopus monsters had to be vanquished! *

"Woman, what are you doing?" Orihime froze, sitting on her bed, hands in invisible gun shapes. Blushing, she lowered her hands into her lap and apologized.

"here is your breakfast. Eat it within the hour. "She looked at the tray, expecting her usual mush and water. This time, she saw something else on the tray too. Eyes widened as she slowly read each character. A huge smile lit her face and she briefly debated jumping up and hugging Ulquiorra. Again, her voice of reason suggested against it. Instead, she profusely thanked Ulquiorra and smiled brightly. A flash of something passed his face, she could not quite decipher what it was, and he exited the room. After demolishing her meal in 10 minutes, she sat and thought about things. She wanted to ask Ulquiorra what he meant by "your color is yellow". She certainly hoped she was not completely yellow, if her skin was too dark of a yellow she might look like one of those oompa loompas she had heard about from America. America must be a werid place, she thought, if they have orange-skinned midgets working their candy factories. Back to her orginal thoughts, she wondered what was wrong with Ulquiorra. First, he gets super close to her, and then he brings her one of her favorite foods! Maybe…he had feelings for her? She blushed; he was rather good looking, she thought. Laughing at her own silly thoughts, she shook her head. Ulquiorra having emotions? That sounds like crazy thoughts, soon she would be locked up in a special padded room for thoughts like that! She was about to laugh at herself when Ulquiorra re-entered. He looked a little surprised that she had finished her meal completely (it looked like she had even licked the bowl…). Smiling brightly at him, she thanked him for the delicious meal again. Gathering courage from the lack of him calling her trash, she asked Ulquiorra the question that had been bothering her.

"Why did you say I was yellow?"

The answer was something she had never expected.

_Author's note: I know she seems a little ridiculous here, but I imagined that if she was forcing herself out of her depression, she might be overdoing it a little bit. So, it ended up with her being a little out of character for the situation. Sorry!_


	6. Chapter 6

Hey everyone, sorry this was not out sooner. I felt disappointed with myself over last chapter, and it took a little bit before I felt like writing again. I might re-write the last chapter in the next couple of days, but I'm not sure. Well, anyways, extra thanks goes to LeftHRyder, your reviews always help me feel like writing more! :)

I still do not own Bleach…

Chapter 6

**Ulquiorra**

These vile pills…they had to go. For once, Ulquiorra cared more about his own sanity than the mission Aizen had given him. Disgust filled him, and he threw the pill bottle as far as he could out of the window, quickly following it with a cero. Sitting on his bed, he still felt nauseous. Had those words really come out of his mouth? "You are the color yellow, because you are bright and full of hope. A beautiful color not meant to be caged in the greys of Hueco Mundo." He had of course sonidoed out of the room immediately after, and had decided to have a nameless Arrancar serve the woman her dinner. These weird feelings compelled his body disobey his mind. He did not appreciate this, and decided he would never ask Szayel for any help ever again. The drugs had begun to wear off, and he felt much more comfortable being his normal stoic self. However, the shame of showing emotions would not leave him. He decided he would have someone else give the woman her food for the next couple of days.

**Aizen**

As the words uttered from Ulquiorra's mouth had sounded from the small speaker attached to his screen, Aizen had felt mildly surprised. He would have to congratulate Szayel for a job well done; who knew Ulquiorra could be romantic? At any rate, Aizen was pleased his plan was coming along. Soon, Orihime would fall in love with Ulquiorra, and then Aizen would have complete control. All he would have to do is torture Ulquiorra in front of the woman, and then she would do anything Aizen wanted without question. A smile spread across his face.

A soft rustling sound whispered from the corner of the room. Aizen did not even turn his head, he already knew who it was.

"Don't 'cha have anythin' better ta be doin' lord?" The silver fox man asked.

"No," Aizen replied, slightly irritated about the interruption, "That's what I have you and Tousen for. Now go back to doing something useful and leave me alone."

Once his annoyance had left, Aizen relaxed again and looked at the screen. A knock once again sounded at the door, and irritation once again filled him. Szayel entered, looking particularly scared. A smirk rose on Aizen's face as he asked what the matter was and Szayel squirmed even more.

"Aizen-sama, I am afraid I have made a horrible mistake. My experim-..I mean, the aid I have given Ulquiorra has permanently altered him. I am afraid that the drug-…I mean, medicine, will make him gain the ability to feel emotions for the rest of his life." With that said, Szayel looked like he would like nothing more than to run and not face Aizen's wrath.

Surprisingly, however, Aizen gave a dark chuckle. "I approve, Szayel. Your experiment will prove entertaining while I await the perfect time to begin the war." Szayel left, and Aizen looked much happier. He was certainly going to look forward to Ulquiorra cracking under the pressure of keeping up his stoic facade.

**Orihime**

Sighing, Orihime moved to sit on the edge of her bed. She was surprised with herself; she actually missed Ulquiorra. It had been days, and she was itching to ask him about the words he had said to her. Did he really mean them? And what was with the sudden show of emotion? A thought came to her head. If he was actually showing emotions and opening up to her, then she should make sure to help him. It was her job, she decided, to make him feel more comfortable with her. That's what any good friend would do, she reasoned.

The thought made her pause. Did she consider Ulquiorra her friend? Could anyone consider this unemotional man their friend? Eyes widened as she thought about it. He needed a friend! That was it! That was what anyone who seemed as sad as him needed, and she would be his friend! A voice in her head tried to talk with her '_Are you sure that is all that you want from him though?'_ She did not listen to it and kept thinking about Operation: Become Ulquiorra's Friend. Her planning skills, however, were horrible and over the span of an entire hour, she had come up with nothing. The voice tried talking to her again, '_Maybe he needs something more than just friendship, maybe he needs true love?'_

She tried dismissing the voice, but she could not help how she felt around Ulquiorra. He had started affecting her by his mere presence, and the lack of his presence had been making her depressed. She wanted to feel his hair on her cheek again and feel that closeness again…blushing, she shook her head. Did the time she almost kissed Kurosaki mean nothing to her? Her heart was in complete turmoil now, what was she supposed to do…

As if on cue, the person of her thoughts entered the room following a small knock. He was pushing the same cart as always, same look on his face as always. "Here is your dinner, woman. Eat it within the hour." He made to leave, and a sudden impulse overcame Orihime. She stood up quickly and lunged towards his turned back, grabbing his arm. He stopped, and turned to face her. "What is it you require, woman?" She could almost see some emotion in his eyes, and she leaned forward a bit to get a better look. He did not look away as she stared into his eyes, and she almost gasped in shock as she recognized the emotion. It was a mix of confusion…and…

"What am I to you, Ulquiorra?" she blurted out suddenly. He looked shocked, but moved a little closer to her to answer in a quiet tone.

"Someone I can never have." His tone seemed a little sad, and she decided to push her luck after hearing the shocking statement.

"Why not?" She asked softly, surprise and curiosity lacing her tone.

"Because I will only cause you problems."

Feeling even bolder than usual, she tightened her grip on his arm and whispered, "What if I don't care about a few more problems?" She almost felt like she was watching someone else in her body; the other person leaned forward and paused, their lips only millimeters away from Ulquiorra's. Orihime watched as Ulquiorra's eyes widened, and she was so wrapped up in seeing that beautiful green that she almost missed him lean forward to completely close the distance. She closed her eyes, and felt soft and surprisingly warm lips brush against hers. Electric currents went through her body. After only the one brush, however, she felt nothing else. Opening her eyes, she saw nothing but an empty space and her open door. Smiling, she touched her fingertips lightly to her lips.

So, I was thinking, I might shorten this and just have the next chapter skip to the end, and how he feels in the last fight against Kurosaki...It might be quite a bit angsty though. Or, I can continue and keep writing how I think they would feel as the storyline continues. I would love to know your opinions about it :)


	7. Chapter 7

Thanks for your input everyone :) I will continue the story in full, and not just skip and write the last chapter. Sorry, I guess when I put up the last chapter I was just really excited to write the end. I forgot I could not just write the beginning and end, I need to have the middle too… We all have our weak moments… but must press on! :)

I do not own bleach…

Chapter 7

**Orihime**

Standing at the window, Orihime stared out at the endless sand dunes. The ever-present moon made a soft glow on her face, and she yet again remembered the soft brush of Ulquiorra's lips on her own. Her lips still tingled from it, and she wished he would come back to the room. She did not think of him as a coward for running off afterwards; she understood that being close to another person was scary. She had never had the courage to kiss the one she loved before she left. Feelings for Kurosaki still lingered in her heart, making it feel heavy and confused. She could not keep calling Kurosaki the one she loved, yet she could not say that she did not love him. Orihime was unsure if she even wanted her feelings for Kurosaki gone. Right and wrong had blurred in her mind, and confusion mixed with despair. Was Ulquiorra good or evil? She grew angry with herself; how could she even think of Ulquiorra as evil when she was having these feelings for him? Her heart would never allow her to fall for an evil, she decided. What would she do though, if Kurosaki came for her? Burying her head in her hands, she felt wetness. Tears? She had not even realized she was crying. Her brain must be some sort of hypocrite, she decided. It was telling her to act on her heart's desires, and then later deeming those actions wrong.

She had chosen this path, Orihime reminded herself. She had even begun to run farther down the path with Ulquiorra's kiss. Regret meant looking back, and if she did that, her heart would be confused with past love. Shaking slightly at the memory of spikey orange hair and smiles, she decided she could not let that happen. She needed to stand behind her decisions, she determined. The memory of orange faded, replaced instead with a graceful mix of white and black with sad green eyes.

So that was it, she decided. As long as her friends did not try to do anything as reckless as try and rescue her, then she would continue down her current path lined with beautiful green.

**Grimmjow**

He hated meetings, especially the part where he had to sit and listen to Aizen and his narcissistic ramblings. Which was all the meetings were about anyway, just some bullshit. They had to obey the summons to the meeting no matter what, though. Grimmjow sneered, he bet that perfect pet of Aizen's, Ulquiorra, just lived for this shit. He would always sit there so perfect and still, listening to his precious Aizen-sama. He kept scowling as all of the Espada entered into the large room. Surpisingly everyone, even Starrk, had made it on time. The message had sounded slightly urgent, and curiosity made him a bit more obedient as he moved to sit down. Plopping down in his seat ungracefully, he again angrily thought about why he had to sit to Aizen's immediate right. He guessed it was because he one of the most rebellious ones of the group. Still, this had to be the worst seat, he thought. He even had to sit across from that emo bastard Ulquiorra, who was sitting down gracefully and ignoring him. Grimmjow tried to shoot a glare at him, but was ignored. Giving up, he focused on what everyone else was saying. Apparently the intruders had entered in the 22nd passageway. Boring, he thought irritably, it would be forever until he was able to go and fight them. They would probably die on the way here, though.

"Quiet down, I'm tired as hell," Starrk grumbled at everyone, and they obeyed. Lazy bastard, Grimmjow thought, one day I'm gonna beat him. Then everyone would have to obey me. The thought made a feral grin appear on Grimmjow's face. Before he got too wrapped up in his thoughts of destruction, though, Aizen finally made his appearance with Gin and Tousen close behind.

"Good morning my dear Espada," Aizen smiled. Grimmjow hated that smile- it was so slick and deceiving. Everyone looked up at their leader. "We're under attack," he continued, "but let us have some tea first."

**Ulquiorra**

"There are three intruders: Ishida Uryuu, Sade Yasutora, and Kurosaki Ichigo."Aizen explained to the group. Ulquiorra lost focus on what was going on around him as he focused on the hologram of that Kurosaki boy. That man was here to take his princess back. He cursed his emotions silently. They had not stopped; whatever Szayel had given him had created this mess inside his head. He was feeling a weird mix of something right now. So this was jealousy. Looking away from the hologram, he realized he must have deeper emotions for the woman than he had originally thought. Jealousy, as he understood it, was typically what one would feel when an important relationship was threatened or when another had something you wanted. Such a petty emotion, he thought. Dragging himself away from his thoughts, he focused back on what Aizen was saying.

"You are not allowed to underestimate them. They were once labeled ryoka. Just the four of them broke into soul society and fought on par with the 13 protection squads." The others questioned who the 4th of the group was, but Ulquiorra already knew. Inoue Orihime was stronger than she appeared. His instincts told him this invasion would have a horrible end. He was shocked that he had to fight down the urge to kill Nnoitora as he suggested they just let the group have Orihime. Clearly Nnoitora had misunderstood the importance of having the woman on their side. Yes, that was the rationality for his anger, he thought.

A sudden bang pulled Ulquiorra out of his thoughts. Grimmjow had stood up and was making his way out of the room. Idiot trash, he was going to get himself killed. Not that he was particularly concerned about it, Ulquiorra cleared with himself.

Tousen spoke to Grimmjow, but Ulquiorra did not pay attention. For the first time in a long time, Murcielago had actually spoken to him, and Ulquiorra had clearly heard the sentence in his head. With an undertone of malice, Murcielago quietly said, '_I despise these pathetic emotions of yours, rid yourself of them immediately.'_ Ulquiorra had agreed. He would have to lower his pride and ask Szayel to help him get rid of this pathetic weakness. After Aizen had put Grimmjow back in his place using his spiritual pressure, he had gone on about his own strength, then had allowed them to leave. Ulquiorra began walking towards Szayel, but an image flickered through his mind and made him pause- long orange hair and wide gray eyes. Murcielago growled at him.


	8. Chapter 8

Hello again everyone, sorry about the delay for this chapter. My college started back up and I was only focused on classes and work. Anyways, thank you for the reviews! I hope you enjoy this chapter too.

Chapter 8

**Ulquiorra**

Just as he had almost reached the pink-haired Espada, he heard someone calling his name. Turning, he noticed Aizen beckoning him to come over. Obediently he immediately headed over.

"Ulquiorra, my dear loyal Espada, how are you doing?" Azien grinned at Ulquiorra, and for the first time Ulquiorra felt a shiver at that smile. It felt cold…and malicious. That little bit of hesitation made Ulquiorra think that perhaps he should start seeing Aizen in a slightly different light. Maybe, Aizen was more like a wolf in sheep's clothing, even to his most loyal subordinates. Ulquiorra immediately felt ashamed- his emotions were even making him question his lord Aizen! He was truly becoming pathetic. 'Trash' a voice in his head mocked him. Brushing off his thoughts and momentary disloyalty, he focused back to what Aizen was saying. Of course, Aizen had not waited for a response after asking how Ulquiorra felt, on any other day that was a sarcastic question. "So, because of this, I want you to tell Inoue Orihime her friends are on their way to save her. However, you must remind her that her loyalty lies with us. This is her test- if her loyalty no longer lies with us, then she is useless and will be disposed of. You may leave."

Ulquiorra quickly left the room, shocked. He had been careful to disguise if from Aizen, but hearing Aizen talk like that made him disgusted. The man showed no qualms about killing any of his subordinates. Ulquiorra had known this ever since he Aizen had recruited him, but his new emotions had made him truly acknowledge the evil of his lord. All of the Espada, all of his pawns, everyone was truly trash to Aizen. The thought sat uneasily in his gut. He was not so concerned about his own life, which was meaningless to him. He only lived to serve and obey, to analyze and kill. However, he felt something uneasy about letting Aizen carelessly dispose of Orihime. Something inside of him completely rebelled against it. He tried to squash the rebellion inside of him between his emotions and loyalty, but ultimately failed. It had stuck inside of him; he needed to save Orihime. She was too precious to be thrown away like the rest of them.

**?**

He looked just like a fucking lovesick puppy- or, as lovesick as she thought Ulquiorra could look. She had listened in the shadows when Aizen had told Ulquiorra his task. He had only looked stoic then, but now, as she watched him walk in the hallway towards that bitch's room, he had some sort of slight daze in his eyes. You would have had to been watching him for a long time to recognize the small change, but she had definitely been watching him for enough months to know. Ulquiorra was hers, not this worthless orange haired woman's. She barely had anything in her pitiful life, how dare this woman take Ulquiorra away from her! Everyone in this miserable place treated her like just some measly hollow and took whatever they wanted from her. God how she hated everyone. Well, everyone except Ulquiorra. He had never taken anything from her. He had never given her anything, but she was willing to work with that. After spending weeks cursing her own weakness, she had finally decided to prove to Ulquiorra that she was worthy of him. She would become an Espada one day, she thought. That would help; then she could confront him with her feelings. Someone as powerful as an Espada would deserve him, she thought, and those beautiful green eyes of his. And that soft looking black hair. She lost herself in a moment of daydreaming about what it would be like to have her hand on his skin, her lips against his. In her daydream, she would ask him why he had chosen her, and he would say something undyingly romantic like "Because you are the most beautiful, strong, and perfect. I love you." And he would protect her, not that bitch human. The human was truly worthless trash, she decided. Her healing powers were overrated, and since the human would never attack anybody, she did not even know why they had brought her here. She just had to make Ulquiorra see that she was better than some lowly human was. Which would be easier, she thought, if the human was dead. Then his eyes would be clear to see her. An evil smile creeped up on her face, and she slid into the shadows again.

**Orihime**

Her room was silent. She missed the hustle and bustle of the world of the living. She wondered how Rukia was doing. The small girl was a good friend of hers, even though Orihime had the slightest suspicion that Rukia was her rival when it came to Ichigo's love. Not that she truly minded; if she never got Ichigo, but instead a good friend like Rukia did, then Orihime would be happy for them. She puzzled over that thought in her mind. If she truly loved Ichigo, then would she be so willing to give him up? Slapping her cheeks lightly, Orihime reminded herself that she did not want to think about who she loved right now. She wanted to think about her friends and if they were doing okay.

A knock on the door took her away from her thoughts. Ulquiorra entered, but something looked slightly off. Nervous, Orihime stood and just watched him. Suddenly he sonidoed until he was an inch away from her. Without hesitation, he leaned forward and Orihime's eyes grew wider. Her lips tingled in anticipation, and she was going to lean forward when he changed direction, instead stopping by her ear. She felt his hand press up against the small of her back, and the butterflies in her stomach went crazy. He pulled her close to him, and the action made her shiver slightly. She heard a small choking sound, and tried to pull away to look at his face and see what was wrong, but he held her tightly. He began speaking, but the words came out hesitant.

"Are you afraid of me?"

"No." Oh dear, he must have thought that my shiver was me shaking in fear from him, Orihime thought.

"Then you must trust me. You must…assure Aizen of your loyalty. Try to remain calm through what I will say in a moment. I could only disable the cameras in here for a minute…"Cameras? In her room? Orihime blushed deeply with embarrassment. "Remember. Stay calm. Assure me of your loyalty. Your life depends on it…Understand?" She nodded slightly, and he held her close for a moment before he sonidoed back to the doorway. Orihime heard a slight buzz and assumed that the cameras were back on. Her eyebrows bunched together slightly- she had thought that buzzing was a fly for the longest time. Or a hollow fly? She was not sure, and now her previous thoughts seemed silly. She should have thoroughly investigated her room. Focusing again, she noticed Ulquiorra walk towards her and pause many steps away. His eyes seemed to scream at her for a moment to remember what he said. She wondered what could be so important that he would be acting this way. Then he began to speak.

PAGE BREAK

So…I have officially threatened, drugged, and given a stalker to my favorite character….um…I am not quite sure how he would feel about this...lol :)


	9. Chapter 9

Hi again! Unfortunately, school came first this week, with tests and such. So, I updated later than I had hoped. It might be slow updates for the next couple of weeks as well. Thank you for all of the reviews, I hope to hear more from you about what you think!

Chapter 9

**Orihime**

Ulquiorra began speaking, and with a nervous tension, Orihime listened. He had kept emphasizing that she needed to prove her loyalty to Aizen to stay alive, and now was her test.

"Your friends have invaded Hueco Mundo." He said it in his monotone voice, helping Orihime keep her composure even a little. Still, the sentence bounced through her head. Why in the world would they come to save her? She had appeared to be a traitor to them the last time she was in the world of the living. Orihime was even helping the enemy!

"Why?" She asked, half-facing Ulquiorra. She knew it was a stupid question, but she was hoping he would say something, anything, besides what she was thinking. Maybe they were just coming to vacation on the nice sand?

"Why else?" He stared blankly at her, and she could tell that she was testing his patience a little by asking that question. "In order to save you. They don't have any other reason."

Her heart fell into what felt like the deepest pit of despair she had ever seen. Her friends were going to die and Orihime knew it. She had done this to save them! Disbelief clouded her mind, and panic began to claw its way into her body. "In order to save me?" If..if they were doing this….then…everything would fall apart…any sacrifice…Her thoughts came in spurts, and she felt frozen.

"That's right." Ulquiorra's tone seemed bored, but the look in his eyes was trying to reprimand her and remind her about her new loyalties. Her mind still could not focus, no matter how much Ulquiorra's eyes were trying to help. "But that shouldn't matter to you anymore. Both your body and mind belong to us now. That's what it meant…when you put on that uniform, Inoue Orihime."

His words washed over her like cold water. She remembered what she had to do. Orihime had started this, and now she needed to finish it. "Yes."

"Say it," he prodded, "Why do your mind and body exist?"

Her mind, overloaded with its emotions, seemed to shut down. Instead, something like a robotic Orihime answered. "Yes. I exist for Aizen-sama and his desires."

Had she truly been paying attention, she would have seen a flicker of relief flash across Ulquiorra's eyes. Her mind, though, had refused to comprehend anything but the moonlight shining softly onto the cold floor. She remained standing there, in silence, for hours.

**Aizen**

Oh my, Aizen thought. That was interesting. The cameras had flickered for a minute, and then he had gotten footage of what seemed to be his most loyal servant breaking the captive into another loyal servant. However, he thought while leaning against his propped up arm, what one sees is never exactly what one gets. Ulquiorra might be beginning to lose his usefulness. The thought made Aizen slightly frown; who would he get to fulfill his every whim once Ulquiorra was gone?

"Somethin' on your mind m' lord?" Ah, that was it. He would just have Gin or Tousen fill the spot of loyal lapdog.

"I am just getting rather bored of this game, dear Gin." The words came out velvety from Aizen's mouth. He got the satisfaction of seeing Gin look a little nervous. "I feel that everyone, at some point, will replace their lapdog and start a new game."

Gin still looked a little nervous. Aizen smirked. This was more fun than watching the drama of his stoic Espada anyways. "However," Aizen continued, slightly enjoying the reverberation of his voice in the large room, "I still want to get every last bit of fun out of the old game first. Tomorrow, we will witness the end of Ulquiorra."

Bowing, Gin decided now was the time to exit the room. Aizen chuckled darkly in anticipation of the following day.

**Ulquiorra**

Ulquiorra frowned slightly as he walked down the hallway. Orihime had not responded at all how he had hoped in the beginning. Fortunately, with a little prodding, she had said what she needed to. The feeling of needing to protect the woman was becoming quite a bother. His mind quickly calculated- no, he did not think that the conversation had sounded too forced. Sure, he might have sounded like he was leading her a little bit, but he was sure it would be understandable to Aizen-sama.

Pain shot through his shoulder, and he moved his hand quickly to check on its condition. There was no hole; no blood…his muscle hurt…could…could the pain be from stress? He, the great fourth Espada, was tensing up from stress. Criticizing himself roughly, he decided the rest of the afternoon he would not contemplate the woman or these foolish emotions.

Just as he was debating on what he should instead do to relax, he felt a strong reiatsu quickly approaching him. The hand that was on his shoulder moved back into his pocket, and he turned to face the direction he was being approached from. When the strong reiatsu seemed almost there, it disappeared. Slightly puzzled, Ulquiorra moved forward and around the corner to investigate. The hallway seemed empty and normal. Continuing his investigation, he walked down the hallway a little further. The second door to his right cracked open a miniscule amount, and he heard a voice whisper, "Come 'n here, quick." Curious, he moved the door open a little more and entered the dark room.

"Stop playing games, they are hardly amusing. Tell me why you were following me, trash." Ulquiorra coldly said, a little less than amused that the lights were still off and he was unsure as to who he was in the room with.

"Now, now…That's no way 'ta treat a friend." The voice sounded strangely familiar…The lights flickered on, and the now dimly lit room showed Ulquiorra that the mysterious person was Gin. Thoroughly not amused, Ulquiorra made to leave. Gin loved to play games with the Espada, so something like this was common in the halls. A quick movement and Gin had grabbed Ulquiorra's arm. Displeased at the sudden warm contact, Ulquiorra frowned and waited for Gin to say why he had stopped him.

"Ya might wanna listen 'ta me this time." He dropped Ulquiorra's arm, but Ulquiorra patiently waited for Gin to finish speaking. "Your life depends on gettin' outta here by tomorrow. Th' man you think of as a god…he's gonna kill 'ya. 'nfront o' the woman."

Ulquiorra thought carefully about the situation. He truly had only existed for Aizen. He had no goals or ambitions of his own, and following someone stronger than him, Ulquiorra had hoped to find a purpose. Confused, he decided to get more information. "Why would Aizen-sama decide to eliminate me?"

"Dunno. Somethin' 'bout you not bein' useful anymore. Don't need 'ya in his plans, I guess." Gin still wore that disturbing smile through telling him all of this.

Ulquiorra grew unsure of whether to trust Gin or not. Turning to face Gin, Ulquiorra decided to ask him one more question. "Why did you decide to tell me this?"

Gin's smile drooped a little, and he answered without the usual slightly playful tone. "Cause nobody should have to deal with watching the one they love killed."

The words chilled Ulquiorra as he sonidoed to Orihime's room.


	10. Chapter 10

I am really sorry this didn't get out sooner….College kinda sucks this semester…But anyways, thank you everyone for the great reviews, I will try and update as soon as possible! (Also, sorry, but I didn't really edit the chapter…didn't have time, just wanted to get it online…so if it sounds really choppy and bad, please let me know and I will try and find time to rewrite/repost it) Thanks!:)

**Chapter 10**

**Ulquiorra**

Mind racing, Ulquiorra sonidoed down the hallways. Originally he had intended to go to Orihime's room, but decided that he needed to gather some things first. He needed a plan, he thought. He listed all of the solutions he could think of in his mind.

First, he could just let Aizen kill him. This would typically be his first course of action, and he would do it without hesitation. He was Aizen's servant, after all, and if he was deemed useless then it would only be natural to be extinguished. As much as he would like to choose this path, he felt some hesitation. If he was killed, the woman would be killed within the week. Frowning, he took a moment to be annoyed his emotions for making him take another path. They felt like a monster inside of him, constantly pushing and howling. These emotions forced him to do strange things, he thought. Shaking his head a little to clear it, he continued with his list.

He could leave Hueco Mundo, and take the woman with him. They would find her friends, and he would return her. A pain went through his chest, and he resisted the urge to groan. Again his emotions would intervene, it seemed. If he simply left her with her friends, he would never see her again. Another thought appeared in his mind. What if he went along as her guard? Her friends would not approve, but if he could only convince Orihime that it was necessary, he could continue being by her side. This also answered the problem of what if Aizen came after Orihime, Ulquiorra could be there to help guard her.

He needed supplies, though. He grabbed a bag from his room and went to the kitchen to gather the various food items necessary to keep Orihime alive. Mind wandering, he threw random cans into the small white bag. Emotions were controlling his actions, and he despised it. However interesting the medicine had been, Ulquiorra preferred to analyze others to amuse himself. This self-analysis was grating on his nerves, and Murcielago was even worse off. He hadn't responded to Ulquiorra at all, even in training when required by Aizen. Worry spread through Ulquiorra; as much as he didn't like to rely on his sword, he would need Murcielago's help if he was going to defend the woman. He decided not to dwell on the thought too much, and went to Orihime's room.

**?**

This was not good. Fuck Aizen! She angrily spat. He was going to completely ruin her plans to get Ulquiorra. If Aizen killed off Ulquiorra, she would be lost in a world without her love. That, she decided, could not happen. Shit, she cursed, she was still too weak to be able to do anything. She would have to get help from someone stronger….but who? Who would even try to help her? Something clicked in her mind, and she sprinted down the hallway. Her plan would work perfectly now, she grinned.

**Orihime**

The moonlight bathed everything in its soft glow. It reminded Orihime of an old poem she had learned in middle school.

Before my bed, the moon is shining bright,

Like frost spreading on the ground.

I raise my head and look at the bright moon,

I lower my head and think of home.

-Li Bai

It was an old Chinese poem their history class had studied. It seemed to fit her so perfectly right now. She missed her home, more than she could have ever imagined.

Orihime was shocked out of her thoughts by the door banging open. Turning, she noticed a particularly mean looking girl arrancar enter. A cold shiver went down her spine- this girl was no good, she thought. She backed up until she could feel the cold wall against her hands.

"That. THAT is what you want instead of ME?" The girl screamed, tilting her head towards the hallway. "This pathetic human is no more than a coward!" Laughing, the woman continued approaching Orihime, a cocky look in her eyes. Placing a finger under Orihime's chin, she tilted the human's head up to look her in the eyes. "What will you do, Princess," she spat the last word, "without your precious protector?" Shock ran through Orihime's body, making her eyes open wide. "Bring him in!" She yelled towards the hallway.

In walked Ulquiorra, looking as calm and composed as ever. It was his eyes that made Orihime enter panic mode; they looked as if he was ready to kill everyone in the room. Orihime wanted to run over to him, she didn't know why (she annoyed him, she thought, and probably wouldn't help his mood much). She was stopped however, when he stepped to the side and she saw a gun being pointed towards his back. The man holding the gun, instead of looking intense, yawned.

"How much longer do I have to do this, Lenoly? I want to nap…" He yawned again, and something even more shocking happened. His gun started yelling at him. " STARRK! Stop yawning, you lazy bastard!"

Orihime felt like maybe she was still dreaming. A gun, in Hueco Mundo? No, wait. A gun that could TALK, in Hueco Mundo, being held by someone who looked barely awake. And Ulquiorra was still not making any move against the man…. This Starrk must be powerful, she decided.

"Only a little longer, Starrk. I want to make sure he watches the woman suffer!" Lenoly began to laugh hysterically, but Ulquiorra seemed to disregard her.

"Oh, you are missing your 14th naptime of the day, am I correct Primera Espada?" Ulquiorra questioned with a polite tone. Starrk nodded. "And what, if I may ask, would motivate you so much as to miss such an important time?"

Starrk yawned again before answering. " That weird arrancar over there promised me a feather bed from the world of the living if I helped her."

Ulquiorra's eyes gained a different light. "Starrk, if you promise to help me, I will not only give you a feather bed, I will watch over Lilinette for an hour, at any time you choose, so you can have a peaceful sleep. "

"Do I have to help you right now?" Starrk complained. The gun started yelling again, but both of the men ignored it.

"I will require your help in about a week." Starrk nodded, then walked lazily out of the room.

Lenoly began screaming at Starrk, then noticed that Ulquiorra was walking towards her. "So, you've decided to pick me instead?" She said with a gloating voice. Orihime stopped breathing. Ulquiorra gave Orihime a quick glance, then looked at Lenoly with an even more murderous look than before.

"You annoy me, trash." He stated, before charging a cero and blasting it through her chest. Orihime stood shocked, then raced over to heal the poor arrancar. Before she could, though, Ulquiorra grabbed her in a bridal-style carry and sonidoed out of the room. "Foolish woman," He said softly, " we have more important things to do right now." That's when she noticed they were headed towards the main door. They were leaving Los Noches?


	11. Chapter 11

Hello everyone, sorry this has taken…well, months. Let's just say, college is kicking my ass. Anyways, I hope to update more often, and absolutely love getting the little email notifications that someone has commented on my story I hope to get out the next chapter within a couple weeks this time!

**Chapter 11**

**Ulquiorra**

The plan had been set into motion, and his mind was racing even faster than his sonido because of it. Orihime was warm and soft in his arms, but he couldn't let himself focus on that right now. His mind was muddled enough without thinking about his feelings for her. She was looking at him with some confusion, he assumed because of his lack of talking over the last hour. They were far enough away from the large white building for now, but no distance seemed far enough to Ulquiorra. She interrupted his whirling thoughts with a hesitiant, "W….what are we doing?" She looked like she was trying to ask the question casually, so as not to upset him. Ulquiorra didn't miss the troubled look in her grey eyes. He hoped she trusted him enough for this, but it didn't matter in the end. He was not going to let Aizen just dispose of her like he was willing to do with Ulquiorra.

"We are leaving." Ulquiorra calmly responded, a little hesitant in how he replied. She replied with a soft 'oh'. He reasoned that if he acted calm and stoic as usual, it would keep her calm. He would be like a strong pillar that she would be able to rely on, he thought. A whisper rudely interrupted his thoughts. '_Trash'_. Murcielago hadn't spoken in awhile, so Ulquiorra was a little shocked that Murcielago was still willing to speak to him. He carefully responded in his mind to Murcielago, hoping to soothe the sword. "Murcielago, you have returned." Calm and stoic, he reminded himself. Emotionless is best.

"You are nothing but a FOOL!" Murcielago yelled with as much malice as possible, "When…WHEN did we become HER protector? She is only an assignment. COWARD, GO FACE YOUR DUTY TO AIZEN AND RETURN!" The yelling hurt Ulquiorra's head a little bit, but it was the fact that Murcielago had yelled that frightened him. His counterpart, his sword, had been everything to him since his birth, and it still meant just as much to him. It held a different part of his interest than Orihime. He quickly turned his thoughts back to pacifying his sword.

"I apologize, but I cannot return. My assignment did not have anything to do with killing the woman. The path you have suggested only leaves the ending of death for her." Ulquiorra picked his words carefully, hoping Murcielago would come out of his rage.

"You are no longer my owner." Murcielago whispered. Shock ran through Ulquiorra as he felt the familiar pressure on his hip begin to dissolve. He quickly set Orihime down and looked at where his sword should be. He fell to his knees, searching for dust among sand.

**Orihime**

Everything had been doing well, Orihime had thought, until Ulquiorra suddenly stopped running. He had fallen to his knees, and was now just sitting on the sand, looking lost. Something was missing, she thought. Looking closely, she noticed he was missing his sword. Eyes widened as she wondered what had happened, but then looked at the pile of dust he held in his hands.

He was too proud to ask, but she knew he wanted her to try and resurrect his weapon. She calmly walked over, called out her powers, and hoped. It was to no avail. The pile of dust glowed, exciting both of them for a small minute, and then dissolved even further into dust in the wind. Looking closely at Ulquiorra, she saw him lose the light in his eyes. They appeared like the same dead looking eyes she had seen when she first met him, and a little bit of fear ran through her. She trusted him, but worried for his sanity. Zanpakutos were like part of the soul for Shinigami, she knew, so she imagined that it was at least similar for Arrancars. A tear slid down her cheek, and she rested her hand on Ulquiorra's shoulder. She heard a whisper 'tozase' slip from Ulquiorra's mouth, then he stood. His eyes still looked dead to her as he picked her up and continued onwards.

She noticed he held her a little less tightly as they continued. Orihime panicked on the inside; she hoped it was not her fault his sword had disappeared. It probably was though, she thought dejectedly, she always did seem to screw things up. Wanting to stop thinking so negatively, she looked around. Excitement bubbled inside of her as she saw a bright orange dot in the distance, running with some other dots. Happiness overwhelmed her and she cried out, "My friends!" The dots turned towards her and began growing larger. Ulquiorra set her back on her feet as he stopped. She waved excitedly towards them, and then turned to talk to Ulquiorra, but instead saw his back. He was walking away from her, and she ran to stop him. "Wait!" she exclaimed, grabbing his hand. It felt even colder than before, and suddenly her excitement over seeing her friends was overshadowed by worry for Ulquiorra. "You aren't staying?" He looked down at the ground. "Why not? Please, PLEASE stay with me Ulquiorra!" Tears were streaming down her face, and a thought flickered in her brain. She relied on Ulquiorra, trusted him. Maybe….maybe even loved him. No matter what, she wasn't willing to let him go.

Gently, he pulled out of her grasp. Pausing, he turned to look her in the eyes. "I am no longer able to protect you. An Espada without…his sword…is a cat without its claws. I must go face my punishment for disobeying from Lord Aizen." He turned to walk away again, but hesitated and turned back to whisper something in a language Orihime didn't understand. Disbelief ran through her; her silly teenager mind had convinced her that he was staying forever. Shock collapsed her knees and she fell to the gritty sand of Hueco Mundo. She didn't even notice her friends surrounding and embracing her.

"Why…why did you leave me?" She whispered to the white dot, now in the distance.

**Ichigo**

Joy and relief had flooded his mind when he had seen Orihime in the distance, waving and smiling. However, relief had quickly faded as he saw the person in white next to her. Upping his speed, he resolved himself to killing whoever was next to her.

By the time he reached her, however, she was crumpled on the ground, crying and looking in the distance. Orihime had suffered too much, he thought. From what he could figure out, most of he and Orihime's pain came from the white figure fading into the distance. Anger enveloped him, and he drew his sword. With the cry of 'BANKAI!' he ran off after Ulquiorra.


End file.
